Do you know anyone who gets over-excited about something and jumps right into the deep end, only to get stuck or give up?

Often, we meet with investors and they want to jump straight into talking about particular properties and what they should buy.

There’s nothing wrong with enthusiasm! But property investing needs to be approached carefully. I can assure you that at some stage the novelty of investing will wear off and, unless your goals are clearly defined and “real” for you, your interest will fade.

It’s better to consider your approach rather than jump in. Instead, we ask all levels of investors, including those with some experience, to take ten steps back and start with the most basic questions. The answers make up the basis of their investing plan, which ideally builds on their strengths and unique opportunities.

In my last blog post, we talked about the advantage of having a property investment mentor to help develop and implement a tailored investment strategy. Now, we are going to take you through how a property investment mentor can help you recognise the initial building blocks of your strategy. Step by step.

 

 

The building blocks of a property investment strategy - explained.

 

 

Step 1: Know Your Financial Situation

A vast number of people have a very poor grasp on their finances or have no real understanding of how to move ahead. Ask yourself these questions:

  • What is your income or joint income?
  • Is that income from PAYE or are you self-employed?
  • If you contract, how stable is that contract?
  • What is the potential for increasing your income in the short- to mid-term and/or is it likely to decrease? (Consider factors such as maternity leave)
  • Do you have a boarder? Or would you consider having one if that made a difference to what the banks might lend you?
  • What are you prepared to do to achieve your goals?

 

Step 2: Budgeting

I’ve seen people cringe when they so much as hear the ‘B’ word. But having a clearly defined budget is the key to any financial plan.

So few Kiwis have any real idea of where their disposable income goes. Getting control of that is the first step.

A budget is simply a quantified plan based on your income and expenses. Once you start actually looking at your outgoings, you may be surprised at where your money is going.

 

Andrew + Sue – some of our happy clients who found success with a personalised real estate investing strategy that we helped them create. 

 

 

Step 3: Use A Mortgage Advisor

Not all lenders are created equal, particularly in how they assess expenses. In some cases having a second car is deemed to be more expensive than a child. This is where working with a mortgage advisor who understands the ins and outs of investing lending will be worth their weight in gold (or approved lending!).

Another common misconception amongst borrowers is that the advertised interest rate reflects the cost of the loan. This may be true in terms of cash in / cash out, however the banks use a “servicing rate” for their calculations, so your ability to service debt is often much lower than you imagine. A mortgage advisor will know where to place your debt to your best advantage.

 

Step 4: Identify Your Goals

What do you want from investing? This is possibly the most important question of all.

When I ask investors this question, the most common answers I get are:

  • Financial freedom
  • Security for retirement
  • Passive income


If I probe a little more, I might get something a bit more specific, like “I want $100,000 passive income in 10 years”. But even still, this bears little resemblance to what the investor actually needs or wants.

You need to be very clear on your short, mid and long-term goals. Then, you can attribute a ‘cost’ to them and forecast the total ‘cost’ of the lifestyle you desire.

As a coach, I can then reverse-engineer an investor’s goals to work out exactly how they can get there (in other words, we can start to build the investing strategy). The true cost is often hugely eye-opening for our clients. But the determined and motivated will succeed and reap the benefits.

 

Step 5: Work With Someone Experienced To Create Your Strategy

This is where the rubber meets the road. It’s time to design and execute your strategy. Experience and knowledge is invaluable in this step.

One good tip is to look past the initial strategy towards the future, as property investing is a long-term game.

For example, Positive Real Estate not only provides education and expert advice to our clients. But we also provide a range of real estate investment support services, such as legal, accounting, and access to mortgage brokers.

 

Step 6: Use the form below to grab your seat the next Property Investor Night near you!

Tickets are FREE – but the event is HIGH value.

It’s the best opportunity to gain some invaluable info, learn about our proven strategies, find out about market trends, and get free advice on your next best move.

Please Note: Due to the popularity of our events and the large number of attendees, everyone who plans to attend needs to reserve their spot using the form below. Thanks in advance! See you there. 

 

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Visit our Property Investment Seminar page here.